The present invention relates to a lowering mechanism for a tailgate of a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a mechanism for moving a tailgate between a generally vertical closed position and a generally horizontal open position at a controlled rate.
Vehicles, such as pickup trucks, typically have a tailgate for selectively enclosing a truck box. Conventionally, the tailgate is pivotally mounted at a lower end to the sides defining the truck box. The tailgate is movable between a generally vertical position for enclosing the truck box and a generally horizontal position for defining a side opening to the truck box. Upon releasing a latch when the tailgate is in its generally vertical closed position, the user can move the tailgate to the generally horizontal open position. Heretofore, movement between the vertical and horizontal position has been manually controlled, whereby the user must secure the tailgate during a lowering operation. Otherwise, the relatively heavy weight of the tailgate would cause the tailgate to forcefully and rapidly move from the closed position to the open position. Because of the weight of the tailgate, such uncontrolled movement poses a risk of injury to the user as well as others who may be in the tailgate's lowering range.